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The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (also known as The Bad News Bears 3) is a 1978 American sport comedy film released by Paramount Pictures and was the third and last of a series, following The Bad News Bears and The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training. It stars Tony Curtis and Jackie Earle Haley and features Regis Philbin in a small role and Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki in a role.

The Bad News Bears Go to Japan
Official theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Berry
Written by	Bill Lancaster
Produced by	Michael Ritchie Fred T. Gallo (associate producer)
Starring	Tony Curtis Jackie Earle Haley
Cinematography	Gene Polito
Edited by	Richard A. Harris Dennis Virkler
Music by	Paul Chihara
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	June 30, 1978 (1978-06-30)
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United States
Languages	English Japanese
Box office	$7.3 million (U.S./Canada rentals)[1]

This film was followed by a 1979 CBS-TV series, and by a 2005 remake of the 1976 film.

Plot

Small-time promoter/hustler Marvin Lazar (Curtis) sees a potential money-making venture in the Bears that will help him to pay off his debts. After seeing a TV spot about the Bears, he decides to chaperone the baseball team for a trip to Japan in their game against the country's best little league baseball team.

As implied in Breaking Training, the Bears had to defeat the Houston Toros for a shot at the Japanese champs. In the process, the trip sparks off a series of adventures and mishaps for the boys. A subplot involves the interest of Kelly Leak (Haley) in a local Japanese girl, and the cultural divide that comes to bear in that relationship.

About half of the original or "classic" lineup of Bears players return (many like Jose Agilar, Alfred Ogilvie, Timmy Lupus and Tanner Boyle are not featured). Three new players are featured: E.R.W. Tillyard III, Abe Bernstein and Ahmad's younger brother, Mustapha Rahim.

Cast

• Tony Curtis as Marvin Lazar
• Jackie Earle Haley as Kelly Leak
• Tomisaburo Wakayama as Coach Shimizu
• Antonio Inoki as Himself
• Hatsune Ishihara as Arika
• George Wyner as The Network Director
• Lonny Chapman as Louis the Gambler
• Matthew Douglas Anton as E.R.W. Tillyard III
• Erin Blunt as Ahmad Rahim
• George Gonzales as Miguel Agilar
• Brett Marx as Jimmy Feldman
• David Pollock as Rudi Stein
• Jeffrey Louis Starr as Michael "Mike" Engelberg
• Regis Philbin as Harry Hahn

Reception

The film has a 6% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 16 reviews.[2] Jackie Earle Haley considered it the worst movie ever made.[3]

Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote, "The film is a demonstration of the kind of desperation experienced by people trying to make something out of a voyage to nowhere."[4] Variety noted, "Latest version is more successful than the middle outing, but the situation and characters are getting tired."[5] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film two stars out of four and wrote, "The story this time is much more confused, with plenty of subplots ... what we should be seeing is play-by-play with the kids and some baseball. There is very little of either."[6] Linda Gross of the Los Angeles Times called it "a very good second sequel" and "a wry and entertaining movie."[7] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post wrote, "Every aspect of the premise that might supply a source of comic and melodramatic renewal—the conflicts that arise between kids and parents, the conflicts between kids and other kids, the culture shock of American Little League Baseball confronting its Japanese counterpart—is neglected or shortchanged in favor of lazy self-imitation."[8]

The film opened in 300 theaters in the Southern United States in early June, grossing $910,000 in its opening weekend.[9] In 38 days it had grossed $9 million and went on to earn theatrical rentals of $7.3 million.[10][1]

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Recipients	Results	Ref.
1979	Stinkers Bad Movie Awards	Worst Picture	The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (Paramount)	Nominated	[11]
2003 (Expanded ballot)				Dishonourable Mention	[12]
		Worst Director	John Berry	Dishonourable Mention
		Worst Actor	Tony Curtis	Dishonourable Mention
		Worst Supporting Actor	Jackie Earl Haley	Nominated
		Worst Screenplay	The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (Paramount)	Dishonourable Mention
		Most Painfully Unfunny Comedy		Nominated
		Worst Sequel		Won
		Worst On-Screen Group	The Bad News Bears	Won

Home media

The Bad News Bears Go to Japan was released on DVD February 12, 2002 by Paramount, in widescreen only.

See also

• Baseball in Japan

References

External links

• The Bad News Bears Go to Japan at IMDb
• The Bad News Bears Go to Japan at the TCM Movie Database

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